Baseball
Established in 1936, and currently based in Cooperstown, New York, the Baseball Hall of Fame may be the most prestigious of any Sports Hall of Fame. Although Baseball may have taken a backseat to Football in recent years, there is no doubt that Baseball’s version of the Hall of Fame is by far the most relevant and the most difficult to get enshrined in. At present, a player has to receive seventy five percent of the votes from the Baseball Writers Association of America, which has proven to be no easy task. Failing that, a player could be inducted by the Veterans committee, though few have been inducted this way. Our list will focus on the players only, and although we could easily do a tally focusing on mangers, broadcasters or other vital personnel, as always it is far more enjoyable to discuss the merits of those on the field as oppose to those off of it.Until Then, Let’s get some peanuts and cracker jacks and cast some votes of our own!
Sincerely,
The Not in Hall of Committee.
We imagine that there are younger baseball fans that are oblivious that there really was a Tommy John and that it was not just the name of a surgery. This would be unfortunate, as Tommy John has to go down as one of the most durable pitchers in baseball history.
If Dick Allen was playing today would he dominate Sports Radio and TMZ with his antics? There is a good chance as when Dick (Formerly Richard) Allen played; he was as good as he was controversial.
Athletes are competitive by nature, but 99.9 percent of them paled to the competitive juices of Wes Ferrell. He was known to get violent whenever he lost and take it out on himself and inanimate objects. He may have been animated himself at times, but his teammates have always said they wanted him on their side.
It is possible that this candidate is shrouded with more controversy than our 1A and 1B candidates combined?
They called Dave Parker the “Cobra” and the nickname fit. He could strike with his bat, his legs and his throwing arm and during the last half of the 1970’s he could arguably make a claim as the best player in the league; in fact he did make that claim.
At the time of the infamous steroids trial, Rafael Palmeiro seemed to come off so good. Of course when you are sitting next to a man who suddenly suffered from amnesia (Mark McGwire), a man who suddenly forgot the English language (Sammy Sosa), and the man who broke the “bro code” (Jose Canseco) a defiant and confident-sounding Rafael Palmeiro could not help but look good. A few months later, Palmeiro was suspended by Major League Baseball for testing positive for steroids.
Just what would Keith Hernandez be most famous for? Could it be for his eleven consecutive Gold Gloves? How about his 1979 MVP? The two World Series rings perhaps? Maybe his tenacious play as a Met? It could also be for his association with cocaine. Likely, there are many who think of Keith Hernandez and remember that episode of Seinfeld instead. Just as long as it isn’t for those terrible Just for Men commercials.
In the long and illustrious (often tortured) history of the Boston Red Sox, a case can be made that of all the men who graced Fenway’s mound Luis Tiant was the most popular of them all. Considering the number of great athletes who have donned the Red Sox uniform this is an impressive accolade indeed.
Gary Sheffield has to be the most interesting candidate who appeared on the 2014 Ballot. Traditionally speaking, Sheffield hit the magical 500 Home Run mark, won a Batting Title and had five seasons with an OPS over one. His career WAR is respectable, his OPS is in the top fifty and he also won five Silver Sluggers and played in nine All Star Games. That’s pretty good right? Unfortunately there are few things to consider.
An argument has been made that Ross Barnes was the greatest baseball player of all time in the League. Unfortunately, that aforementioned League was the National Association and not the current Leagues that are known today.
The common trend in Baseball Hall of Fame voting is for a solid candidate to get a healthy double-digit vote in his first year of eligibility and watch that number climb slowly as more and more perspective is put on their career. For Steve Garvey, the more the Hall looked at his career, the more they seemed to talk themselves out of his induction as evidenced by the way his votes were cut in half from his first year (41.6) to (21.1) in his last year.
A 19-year veteran, C.C. Sabathia debuted with the Cleveland Indians in 2001, and showed immediately that he was a star, finishing 17-5, leading the AL in H/9 (7.4), and had it not been for Ichiro Suzuki, would have been named the American League Rookie of the Year. Sabathia remained the ace of the Cleveland staff for the next six seasons, going to the All-Star Game in 2003, 2004, and 2007, the last year of which was an electric campaign for the Californian. Sabathia won the Cy Young in that season, with a 19-7 record, a 3.21 ERA, 209 Strikeouts, and a…
How many people pointed at Bert Blyleven’s 287 career wins year after year and championed his Hall of Fame cause? We don’t know the exact number, but we are sure that it is a lot more who than those who created logs extolling the virtues of Tony Mullane’s 284 Major League victories.
Although Andruw Jones was once classified as a defensive specialist, it is one-dimensional to think of him only that way. Granted, Jones captured ten straight Gold Glove Awards and also led the National League in Defensive bWAR four times and is second all-time in Total Zone Runs with six straight seasons (1997-03), but he also had an offensive acumen that has to be respected, which included 434 career Home Runs, a Home Run and RBI Title in 2005, which certainly pushed up his career bWAR of 62.8, a number that is not far off the Cooperstown threshold.
Chase Utley came up through the Philadelphia Phillies system, and after debuting in 2003, he would quickly become the heart of a team that would win the 2008 World Series.
You would not think that an eleven-time All-Star would be forgotten among Hall of Fame consideration, but in the case of career-long Detroit Tiger, Bill Freehan that appears to be the reality.
Right now it is hard to imagine a time when the Atlanta Braves were not relevant in the world of Professional Baseball but in the 1980’s frankly Ted Turner’s team wasn’t a spectacular one. The exception to that rule was Dale Murphy who in his prime drew comparisons to legends such as Mays and DiMaggio. No really, he did.
The position of third base holds the least amount Hall of Famers in Baseball. There however have been many great ballplayers at the “Hot Corner” and some even won the MVP award. Ken Boyer was one such man as he won that coveted trophy in 1964.
YANKEE STADIUM PREGAME TOUR
Jan 01, 1970
Buy your Tickets to see Yankee Stadium Pregame Tour HERE!
PREGAME GLIMPSE OF GREATNESS
Jan 01, 1970
Buy your Tickets to see Pregame Glimpse of Greatness HERE!
CLASSIC TOUR AT YANKEE STADIUM
Jan 01, 1970
Buy your Tickets to see Classic Tour at Yankee Stadium HERE!
TOURS: TRUIST PARK
Jan 01, 1970
Buy your Tickets to see Tours: Truist Park HERE!
One of the most popular Yankees of all time was Don Mattingly. This was a very impressive reality considering that the year before he turned pro the Bronx Bombers lost to Dodgers in the World Series and the year after he retired they won the championship. During Mattingly’s entire tenure, the Yankees never went to the Fall Classic; the largest stretch of post-season futility in franchise history.